Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1887-06-15
SPRUCE GUM.
Gathering the Product OF Spruce
Trees i'm Maine.

Trees i'm Maine.
a lump of clear, genuine spruct
gum, fresh and fragrant from its
native forest, is not to be despissd a5
chewing substance, and il everybody
could get the real article. instead Of
cheap, adulterated stuff, the army OF
chewers would be vastly augmented.
The natural gum is said by physicians
to be beneficial to the teeth, and II is
certainly a great improvement on
tobacco. The woodsmen bring out
considerable quantities of gum, sons
times packed IN pretty miniature ba--
rels, which they whittle and carve
from blocks of white pine or cedar dur
ing idle hours By the camp tire, as
presents for their friends, but there
are people who make q business OF
gathering gum, and In certain sections
of the spruce county it pays well.
Most of the spruce gum handled by
the dealers comes from Canada and
northern Maine, while Vermont and
New HamsphIre contribute moderate
quantity to the total yield. The best
gum comes from no particular section,
but always from the biggest spruce
trees, and it begins to run in July or
August, when, IN these high laJitudes,
the sun becomes so hot as to crack tie
bark. On the limbs, in the crothes,
and even i'll the truck Of the spruce,
the molten gum forms during the heat
OF summer in all sorts of fantastic
shapes, and when cold weather sets in
1t becomes hard. The first year after
its run the gum is white and pitchy,
then 1t begins to turn amber and red u,
and the second year it Is ct to 'pick"
for the market, although it Is better II
allowed to remain on the trees until
the third year. After the third season
the gum remains In the same state for
several years, and then begins to ''turn
old" as the pickers say, and the con-
sumer complains that it ''chews hard, !"
and crumbles up. a little more age
makes 1t dark colored and bitter, and
then its value is gone.
Up in Canada much of the gum is
picked in the autumn, beginning as
early as October, but there, as in
Maine. the best time for the work is
during the deep SHOWS Of winter. when
snowshoes are used, or in the early
spIlng, when a man can travel along
at lively rate on the heavy crust,
above the underbrush. The pickers
are provided with long poles, on the
end of which Is fastened a sharp
chisel, and underneath that cup %
receive the gum as 1t IS chipped off.
The cup holds from n pint to quart,
and when full it Is emptied into long
bag which the packer carries slung to
his back like knapsack. These gum
harvesters erect huts in the woods
when far distant from a settlement or
a logging camp, and stay from two
days TO week on a trip. When they
have secured all they can tote" they
come out, and then the women and
children have the tedious job of scrap
ing each and every lump from baIk
and moss. The clean, bright article
offered for sale IN the shops looks very
much different from the brown nuggets
In the picker's bag, although ccca-
slonally clear, shiny piece is found on
the limb of large tree.
it is the cleaning of the gum that
makes first-class article expensive,
An ordinary picker usually earns fair
days wages, although In localities that
have not been explored he sometimes
"strikes it rich." L have known
man to gather $50 worth Of gum in one
day.
There ara two or three firms in
Maine which buy large quantities of
gum from lumbermen ard pickers for
the purpose of refining it, as they say.
But, as a general rule, the refining
consists of adulterating with rosin.
They throw the gum into a big vat,
bark, noss and all, and boil it to about
the consistency Of molasses, skImming
OF the the impurities as they rise to
the surface. Then, if the purpose lie
to adulterate, some lard or grease and
a lot Of rosln is thrown in, with sole-
times a little sugar. The mixture is
stirred until thick, and then poured |
out on slab, wheoe, while it IS yet |
hot, it is rolled out IN sheet about Il |
quarter of an inch thick, and after |
ward cut with steel die into pieces
half an inch wide and three-quarters OF |
an inch long. These pieces are wrapped /
in colored tissue paper and packed in
wooden boxes-twO hundred pieces to
l box. This is the so-called patent"
gum. Tons OF it are sold south and
vest of us, but here on the verge of
he primeval forest it is a drug in the.
market.